At the ripe age of 25, UAA civil engineering alumnus Gus Schumacher has already competed in two Winter Olympic Games — first in Beijing in 2022 and then in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. The Milan-Cortina Olympic Games were a little more exciting for Schumacher than the Games in Beijing — this time, he walked away with a silver medal.

Schumacher competed in six events at this year’s Olympics: the sprint classic, the 10km+10km skiathlon, the 4x7.5km relay, the team sprint free, the 50km mass start classic and the 10km interval start free. With teammate Ben Ogden, Schumacher placed second in the team sprint free, marking the first time the United States has ever won silver in that event. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing while he was in Italy.

“It was hard for me,” Schumacher admits. “I raced kind of poorly in the first few races and it was hard to get over that and keep showing up ready to perform at my best. The process of getting myself to a place where I could compete at my highest level was difficult, but in hindsight, I knew what I was doing was important, and it was important for me to keep pushing and believing in myself.”

This year’s Olympics were very different from Beijing in 2022, since strict COVID-19 restrictions meant no fans or family were allowed to watch the athletes compete. “[This year] was much more competitive, but having my family there and a bunch of excited fans and pretty good weather made it a really cool experience.”

Skiing is an integral part of Schumacher’s life and it was part of the reason he chose UAA. He’s friends with Hailey Swirbul, another UAA alum and Olympic skier, who had a great experience taking classes at UAA and juggling her competitive skiing career. She was also pursuing a civil engineering degree, the same program that Schumacher would eventually graduate from.

Schumacher has fond memories of his time at UAA, like the steel design class where he designed a bridge made from thin pieces of steel, or the senior project where he and his classmates came up with a design to raise a bridge used by the Alaska Railroad. “Through UAA, I felt like I got a lot better at communicating exactly what I needed in a situation. It’s one thing to do all the work yourself and it’s another thing to elevate the teammates around you and help the work get done. There were a lot of good opportunities [at UAA] for working together and working on communication in a field that’s not known for good communication skills.”

Schumacher plans to continue skiing for the next several years and hopes to be at the 2034 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. He’ll also be back on campus in a few short weeks to celebrate his girlfriend, Olivia, as she walks across the stage at the 2026 Spring Commencement.